Ibrahim Fathi

He died on October 3, 2019 after returning from Cairo to London, spending the last 10 years of his life between Cairo and London accompanied by his wife, Hanaa Suleiman.

He contributed in founding a political organization that brought together young poets, critics, writers and journalists, such as poets Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi, Sayed Hijab, critics Sabri Hafez, Ghalib Halasa and Sayed Khamis, writers Gamal al-Ghitani and Yahya Taher Abdullah, journalist Salah Essa, and translator Khalil Kalfat. Therefore, he was detained once again in September 1966. French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre’s condition for visiting Cairo prior to the June War, however, was for them to be released.

In 1959, he was imprisoned for his political affiliations. After being released in 1964, he started his thought and criticism project. His articles were published in poetry and cultural magazines, as well as in Yahya Haqqi’s magazine, Al-Majalla. Given his knowledge of English and French, he edited a section of the magazine that deals with presenting topics discussed in foreign magazines.

Ibrahim Fathi (1931 – 2019) was an Egyptian writer, intellectual and critic of the ‘60s. He was called the dean of leftist intellectuals; he has numerous articles and papers published in various Arabic and foreign periodicals. In addition, Fathi was briefly a part of HADETU (Al-Haraka Al-Dimuqratiya Lil-Tahrir Al-Watani; Arabic for: The Democratic Movement for National Liberation). Fathi was honored in 2018 at the Supreme Council of Culture of Egypt for his intellectual output and role in enriching the intellectual life. In addition, Najib Mahfouz praised his writing by criticizing his works.